Interview: Timing Is Everything With Kid Vishis (@Kidvishis)

Kid Vishis is the young­er brother of Slaughter­house vet­er­an Royce da 5 9, he began rhym­ing “down­stairs in the fam­ily free­style base­ment ses­sions” while still at high school before per­form­ing at loc­al open mic nights. Such was the pub­lic respon­se, word on the street reached his brother who put him to the test one night in the stu­dio in 2003. Fast rising rap­per Kid Vishis releases his long awaited debut album “Tim­ing Is Everything” on 22nd July.

Our report­er John Gynn catches up with him for an insight on his career.

Q. On “Cow­ard,” a track from your new album, you’re joined by the album’s sole guest artist, your brother. Some people say you are the “Prince” to Royce’s “King,” how do you react to this, with a grin or a little bit of anger?

That’s awe­some to me for people to refer to me as the “Prince” because Royce was con­sidered the “King” before I even star­ted rap­ping. It’s actu­ally a pretty big com­pli­ment for the both of us. I hold my brother in such a high regard that me being the “Prince” and him being the “King” is a great fit and I’m honored to be brought up in the same breath as a legend.

Q. Is it true that NFL Street 2, the video game, was your first paid rap job? Can you describe your ini­tial feel­ing when you received a paycheck for con­trib­ut­ing to such a pop­ular game?

Yes!!! NFL Street 2, I will nev­er for­get it, my first 500 dol­lars!. It was such an hon­or to be a part of such a pop­ular video game and the feel­ing was euphor­ic when I actu­ally bought the game and the first song you heard was me and Royce! Lots of people hit me up like “Yo I heard you and your bro on the NFL Street game”! Truly unbe­liev­able..

Q. In 2014, how do you view the emcee­ing ele­ment of Hip-Hop, has it regained a real sense of pur­pose?

I think the Emcee­ing ele­ment will nev­er die but it’s not very pop­ular at the moment… That’s why it’s guys like myself who have to keep push­ing bars and lyr­ics down the throat of the masses until the pop­ular­ity rises again… It’s been at an all-time low for some years now and it’s just time for the Emcee to pre­vail again.

Q. You’re a pretty ver­sat­ile artist, what artists inspired this ver­sat­il­ity that has been so evid­ent through­out your career?

Q. You refer to your new album as “the begin­ning of a Hip-Hop takeover”… can you elab­or­ate a little fur­ther?

I’m more focused on the res­tor­a­tion on HipHop as opposed to tak­ing it over. I don’t mind shar­ing I just don’t like HipHop being so damn corny! I prom­ise I won’t get viol­ent either unless I’m dis­respec­ted to the point where I have to take my respect but I just want people to focus on “More rap­pin and less antics” and the HipHop world will be a bet­ter stronger place.

Q. I read that you are a self-con­fessed box­ing fan­at­ic, are you a Floyd fan?

Abso­lutely! I love box­ing and mma! Floyd is my favor­ite fight­er and has been for years. He is a Mas­ter at his craft and there are very few mas­ters in this world so I just have respect highly for any­one who can fig­ure out the sweet sci­ence..

Q. Out of all the cit­ies in the Europe that you will per­form in dur­ing your tour, where are you most excited to vis­it?

I’m sorry, let me read the ques­tion again… WHAT?? ANY and EVERY city in Europe would be amaz­ing to per­form in! I think a lot of artists take for gran­ted that it’s a priv­ilege and an hon­or to be able to get paid to fly to coun­tries and do what they LOVE to do all the time any­way. If it’s a small city or a large city, I’m gon­na rock that shit and when I leave I’m gon­na have half of Europe yelling “SICK EM”!!

Q. Lastly, one rising star that we should all look out for in the world of rap?

I like Jon Con­nor from Flint Mi, and The Horse­shoe Gang from Long Beach Ca.. These guys are cut from that cloth where Emcee­ing is very import­ant, being clev­er with every bar, storytelling, etc… I rock with these guys and they’re fam­ily so we are all a part of the same move­ment, to restore the “Pride” back into HipHop…

Rishma Dhaliwal

Rish­ma Dhali­wal has extens­ive exper­i­ence study­ing and work­ing in the music and media industry. Hav­ing writ­ten a thes­is on how Hip Hop acts as a social move­ment, she has spent years research­ing and con­nect­ing with artists who use the art form as a tool for bring­ing a voice to the voice­less. Cur­rently work­ing in TV, Rish­ma brings her PR and media know­ledge to I am Hip Hop and oth­er pro­jects by No Bounds.

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About Rishma Dhaliwal

Rishma Dhaliwal has extensive experience studying and working in the music and media industry. Having written a thesis on how Hip Hop acts as a social movement, she has spent years researching and connecting with artists who use the art form as a tool for bringing a voice to the voiceless. Currently working in TV, Rishma brings her PR and media knowledge to I am Hip Hop and other projects by No Bounds.